Winter Wind—The Perfect Storm
A historic winter storm—Winter Storm Enzo—swept across the Southeast last week, bringing record snow, ice, and sub-freezing temperatures from Texas to the Carolinas. The storm put aging power grids to the test as it produced the snowiest day in over a century, but wind energy helped keep the lights on.
When temperatures reached record lows late Tuesday night into early Wednesday, electricity demand skyrocketed as customers tried to stay warm. Utilities can struggle to meet demand during extreme weather events, resulting in expensive bills and, in some cases, outages that leave families and businesses vulnerable when they need power most.
The grid failures seen during previous storms, such as Winter Storm Uri in 2021 and Winter Storm Elliot in 2022, highlight the Southeast’s vulnerability to extreme weather. Many Southeast utilities are seeing electricity demand peak during early winter mornings when people are waking up and again in the late evening when temperatures drop. While these peaks can be variable and difficult to predict, they do have something in common - the sun isn’t shining but the wind is blowing.
The central United States, where grid operator MISO manages transmission, is home to 273 land-based wind projects that account for 15% of the electricity mix on average. Last week, while temperatures dropped and energy demand grew, wind speed increased. As a result, the MISO grid remained stable as wind energy projects across the region performed well above average, making up 20% of the energy mix during peak demand. Just to the west, on the SPP grid system, wind made up approximately 40% of the generation mix during the storm, further demonstrating the resiliency of wind in the face of extreme weather.
Not only did wind generate much-needed electricity, it also served as a hedge against volatile fuel prices. When demand spikes, so do fuel prices. Winter storms bring freezing temperatures that cause demand to rise and the price of limited fuel supplies to increase. Wind reduces the need for natural gas in those situations, which keeps fuel costs down for everyone. For example, during Winter Storm Uri, gas prices in Texas were up to 33 times the average cost. These benefits are even more apparent when factoring in offshore wind. The higher and more consistent wind speeds offshore offer tremendous potential for increasing grid reliability and resiliency.
Each winter, concerns rise over the electric grid and our nation’s capacity to meet energy demand. Winter Storm Enzo has demonstrated that wind energy can—and should—play a key role in our nation’s ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy to ensure grid resiliency, stabilize electricity prices, and protect families and businesses in times of need.
Despite industry uncertainty in the wake of last week’s executive order, which put a pause on wind development, wind helped keep the lights on during last week’s storm. Ceding the advancement and development of wind technologies to other countries will only set us back. In a time of unprecedented load growth, an “all-of-the-above” strategy to achieve American energy dominance must include wind along with all readily available domestic power sources.
